WE ARE HAPPY TO HAVE YOU STAY WITH US IN OUR FAMILY HOME

WE ARE HAPPY TO HAVE YOU STAY WITH US IN OUR FAMILY HOME

WE ARE HAPPY TO HAVE YOU STAY WITH US IN OUR FAMILY HOME

WE ARE HAPPY TO HAVE YOU STAY WITH US IN OUR FAMILY HOME

WELCOME TO THE RODA FAMILY

Darta

Suti

Suti, Abud, Yuli, Darta

Darta, Sulastri, Suda, Meme, Sudi, Waemetha, Rudi

Rumah Roda Family

Iluh(Staff)

Darma(Staff)

Samru(Staff)

Iluh, Kadek, Putu(Staff)

Roda was our father. He died in December 1984. We are his children and trying to continue Roda's wish for harmony in the family. Everyone before knew Roda as he was very funny man and made people laugh. You know, Balinese people do not have a last name. We are called Wayan or Made for first child or second child and so on. We normally would never use a family name but we use Roda's name for our family guesthouse, for our restaurant, for everything because we think very much about him and remember him with very much love.

Jalan Kajeng #24 is our home and it is part of Banjar Ubud Kaja or North Ubud Community. Every married man who owns property in Bali must belong to the local banjar to help his community with a temple ceremony, a funeral and so on. My family has lived in Ubud Kaja more than 75 years, maybe 100 years. We do not know exactly, but for very long time. The Roda family includes myself and my three brothers and two sisters and my mother who we call Meme or Ibu. And there are maybe more than thirty people who live with us: my children, my brothers' children, my nieces and second cousins and so on. If you stay here for long time, you will meet them I am sure! Paman, our uncle, is doing very important work for this family; he is taking care of the garden or kebun. Paman is very smart with the plants and he can make anything grow so we have this garden to use in our kitchen. Paman never uses a chemical thing.

We are happy to have you stay with us in our family home. If there is anything we can do to make your stay more comfortable please let us know! Rumah means house and Roda was the name of Darta’s father who died in 1984. Rumah Roda guesthouse was first built in 1987 with four rooms. In 2009 the roof of the guesthouse needed repair and so plans were made to renovate. As always in Bali, one thing led to another and now the guesthouse has three floors and nine rooms! We hope you will understand that the price that you might have heard before was based on the old rooms. The rooms today are now much more elegant and therefore our price has had to increase as well.

During your stay at Rumah Roda you will undoubtedly meet Darta and his wife Suti. Many of you may know about Darta from friends. He is a wonderful storyteller! Many of Darta’s stories are found in the book “A Little Bit One O’clock by William Ingram that is sold in bookstores around Ubud as well as the Threads of Life Gallery beside Rumah Roda’s front gate.

Darta is the oldest of 6 children. You will often see the other siblings visiting as this house is considered the “family house and temple” and all must return here to occasionally share meals. The women also participate in preparing offerings for ceremonies that relate to the family temple. The other members of the family after Darta are his sister Made Sulastri who is married to Ardika, they live in Denpasar. Nyoman Suda, a brother who is married to Kadek Damayanti, they live in Ubud on Jalan Bisma. Ketut Sudi, a sister who is married to Winarko and they live in Surabaya. Sudi, the most loveable sister passed away on March 2015 because of cancer. Putu Waemetha, a brother who lives with his wife Ayundari in Jalan Bisma together with Nyoman Suda and Damayanti. The youngest is Rudi, a brother who lives with his wife Putu Widyantari just up the road.

Other than Darta’s wife Suti you will also see Darta’s mother, Meme Tubelen or Ibu (which means mother) along with Paman (Ibu’s older brother), his daughter-in-laws Yuli making endless offerings that are so essential to Balinese life. Darta often says, “Bali has a ceremonial economy.” Abut is Darta and Suti’s son and is often available to drive you on a tour of Bali.

Other than Abut, his younger sister Tutut is often at the house although she is now married and living at her husband’s house in another part of Ubud. Iluh, Putu and Kadek work in the kitchen and are the women who clean your room and make the meals. Darma and Samru are the young men who wait on the tables upstairs in the restaurant.

Each room is named after the nine patrilineal grandchildren of Darta’s father and mother, Roda and Tubelen. They are (oldest to youngest): Abut, Tutut, Turia, Roman, Bayu, Rida, Egar, Jae and Gin.

Please Join our FamilyYou will often see the women preparing offerings for special occasions other than the daily offerings. They always welcome you to sit and watch or join in. By staying with the family you have an opportunity to learn about the Balinese culture. When there are temple ceremonies (which are often) please come with us to see what is happening at the temple. We will lend you temple dress. The Balinese always appreciate it when you make an effort to dress properly when visiting temples or attending ceremonies!